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Stropping – Make Your (Male & Female) Razors Last Forever!

Stropping – Make Your (Male & Female) Razors Last Forever!

Some skills and techniques are lost or made redundant over time.

If you’ve ever seen someone using a straight razor – or ‘cut throat’, like Sweeney Todd used to slash peoples throats – you may have seen them run the edge of the blade along a belt-type strip before they start shaving.

This is called ‘stropping’. It keeps the edge of the blade sharp for a smooth and close cut.

What you may not know, is that this technique actually works on all modern razors!

I pay about £400 for a pack of 3 blades for my Gilette Mach 3 Turbo, and some people replace the blade after a week, or even a few days. That kind of money builds up quickly.

I’d heard that stropping worked on these, but never tried it. A few years ago I looked further into it, watching a few YouTube videos and looking at a load fo confusing techniques and explainations.

What you need to know is that it works. I’d already been using my razor for ages, and it was at that stage where it sort-of grabs at your hair as you shave, and feels more like it’s ripping it out than cutting it. Months later I was using that same blade and it felt like it had only been out the packet for a few days!

People online are claiming they’ve used the same multi-blade super-duper Gillette Wilkinson Turbo Excel 19 Blade Super Vibro Cut for 6 months, or even over a year! This works on both mens and womens razors.

I could bang on about how it doesn’t technically ‘sharpen’ the blades, as such, and you can only strop one side of the blade – but the fact is THIS WORKS!

All you have to do is run your razor down the leg of your denim jeans a few times and you’ll see the effects instantly.

I’d recommend using the calf of your leg. Run the razor down this in long strokes about 10-20 times before and after each use. Run it BACKWARDS down your jeans – i.e. the OPPOSITE way from which you’d shave. This won’t harm your jeans at all. If you’re really worried about this, get some old jeans and hang them up and use those.

You need to use about the same pressure as you would when you’re shaving.

And that’s it! A few strokes and you’ll save hundreds of pounds. Probably thousands if you’re a hairy hippie who lives to be really old.

Give it a try, and come back and post a comment once you see the massive difference it makes!